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What can a cemetery built for a Sergio Leone western in northern Spain have in common with a military memorial park thousands of miles away in Bengaluru?

After almost two months away from the podcast, I return to Sad Hill Cemetery for the 60th anniversary of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, where I have spent four days doing something new — performing my own writing in the landscape that inspired it.

A couple of weeks later, a work trip takes me to Bengaluru, India, where another walk and another recording begin to echo what happened in Spain.

Two places, two recordings, thousands of miles apart.

Stories of film, conflict, memory, performance — and what we notice when we simply keep walking.

Buen Camino and keep listening.

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Life coaching, personal growth, spirituality, nature, resilience, pilgrimage, self-compassion, motivation and the power of choice.

In this episode of the story pilgrim, I sit down with coach, author and speaker Sondra Harper to explore a question that sits at the heart of so many of our lives:

How do we choose who we become when life doesn't unfold as we planned?

As a wife, mother, coach and pilgrim, Sondra shares the experiences that have shaped her understanding of resilience, grace and personal responsibility. From pilgrimages to India to navigating family challenges, she reflects on the attitudes that can quietly become habits—either keeping us stuck or helping us move forward.

We talk about the inspiration behind her book, The Four Attitudes, and the belief that although we may each be just one person in an ocean of people, one person still has the capacity to make a difference.

But this isn't a conversation built on easy answers or polished slogans.

Together, we explore the idea of spiritual consumerism and ask what we should make of the modern self-help world. What would Sondra say to sceptics? Can books, retreats and coaches transform us? Or do they simply invite us to do the one thing nobody else can do on our behalf?

The work.

Because, as Sondra reminds us, the only person who can change you is you.

Nature also plays a profound role in her understanding of life. She speaks about the awareness that comes from paying attention to the natural world, and how its rhythms can teach us humility, presence and perspective.

She recalls the extraordinary experience of being on retreat and living through a Category 4 hurricane—an encounter that deepened her respect for nature's power and reminded her how small, vulnerable and interconnected we truly are.

Together, we explore:

• The power of choice during life's challenges
• Pilgrimage and the lessons found in India
• Nature as a teacher of awareness and humility
• Surviving a Category 4 hurricane while on retreat
• Spiritual consumerism and healthy scepticism
• Turning desire into meaningful motivation
• Self-compassion and extending grace to ourselves
• Family, resilience and identity
• Coaching as a tool for awareness, not dependence
• Why nobody else can do your inner work for you

At the heart of this conversation is a simple but liberating truth:

You don't have to surrender your own thinking to somebody else's certainty.

You are over there.

You're welcome.

Perhaps transformation isn't about finding the perfect guru, the perfect retreat or the perfect answer.

Perhaps it's about paying attention.

To nature.
To others.
To yourself.

And then choosing the next step.

Coaching Website: https://sondraharper.com/

"The Four Attitudes": https://thefourattitudes.com/

Buen camino, and keep listening.

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Longtime friend Natalie Rozon joins me in Montreal for a walk about memory, encouragement, parenthood, loss, and the conversations that quietly alter the direction of a life.

Natalie and I first met in 2000 while working aboard the cruise ship Mercury — sailing from Vancouver to Alaska. I worked in the casino; Natalie worked in guest relations. We were young, uncertain, and trying to work out who we were becoming.

We haven’t seen each other in twenty-six years.

In this episode, we walk through Montreal and revisit that time — the friendships, the laughter, and the conversations we had and have stayed with me ever since. At a point in my life when I lacked confidence and direction, she was the one who encouraged me to pursue acting seriously.

This walk became an opportunity to finally say thank you.

Natalie also talks about music and singing, something she has always loved and continues to pursue for the joy of it rather than the spotlight. We speak about becoming a mother, the relationship with her daughter, losing both of her parents in recent years, and how grief reshapes your understanding of time, presence, and what truly matters.

Running through the conversation is a quieter idea: that the people who influence our lives most profoundly are not always aware they’ve done it at all.

Recorded in Montreal during one of my work trips, this is a walk about friendship, memory, gratitude, and the strange way life circles back on itself.

Season Two of the story pilgrim walks with people — their histories, their influence, and the moments that stay with us long after they’ve passed.

buen camino, and keep listening.